Snow What A Night

Real Salt Lake 3 New England 2
The Revolution were just two minutes away from clinching a spot in the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup final. And then they were knocked out of the tournament.

Real Salt Lake’s Alvarao Saborio (88th minute) and Kahri Stephenson (90th) found the back of the net in the blink of an eye to send the Revolution into the consolation match on Saturday night.

QuotesJason Kreis, Real Salt LakeOn the weather:It’s difficult conditions, but we prefer that over 100 degree heat. I think the really difficult part is to throw a whole new team on when it’s that cold, so I felt a little bit sorry for our guys trying to get going there but thankfully towards the end they did.

On if the weather affected the team’s training preparation:No we trained, we stick to our play, we had a training session for the group that came on late in the second half, so they trained this morning and then played the minutes they did tonight. We actually got most of the training session in before it started raining and it didn’t start snowing until after we left the locker room so we were fortunate with our timing.

On how he’s enjoyed the Tucson weather:I really enjoy it, I think that it is a well-done tournament, I really like the city and the atmosphere of the people here, they’re all terrific, and the food is good. We spend quite a few dollars out night for dinners, and the food here is so good and the facilities are top notch. We’re really pleased again with what we’ve gotten out of this tournament so far.

Devon Sandoval, Real Salt Lake:

On his goal:I think Sebastian had the shot, and when it’s wet like that the keepers drop it a lot and I was just anticipating that he wasn’t going to be able to hold onto it, I caught the defender sleeping and the ball was just set there for an easy tapping. Those are the type of goals you’ve got to look for because keepers make a lot of mistakes like that and you’ve got to capitalize on them.

On if there is anything special Jason Kreis has told him to do:He just wants me to hold up the ball and not lose it combined with my midfielders and be a target for it basically. And when the time comes I need to put the ball in the back of the net and work hard and hold the game, that’s what I’m here for and that’s what I’m going to do.

On how comfortable he is playing with the team’s other forwards:We’ve got a lot of great forwards and it’s exciting and really competitive and I’m excited to be a part of it. Like I said, I’m just working hard and if I get the opportunity to play in a game then that’s great and I’m going to take advantage of that, but until them I’m just going to keep working hard and improving. I’ve got a lot to improve on still, and a lot of room to get better.

Seattle 2 New York Red Bulls 0
With Real Salt Lake’s win, New York still had an outside chance to clinch itself a spot in the final. A 1 4-1 win over Seattle would’ve been enough to get the job done but the Red Bulls couldn’t do anything in the final third to score despite possessing well.

Seattle’s Alex Caskey made New York’s job difficult in the 37th minute with the first goal of the match. Then Mario Martinez scored his second wonder goal of the tournament in the 78th minute (another long strike directly off a volley) that put the nail in New York’s coffin.

QuotesSigi Schmid, Seattle Sounders FCOn his general impressions:Obviously we got to see a lot of the group that hasn’t played as many minutes, so we still have to make some decisions on some of the players at the bottom end of our roster, so it was good to see those guys play and how they adjusted, and it was good to see that when the first team came in you could see a change.

On Mario Martinez:Well he’s a good player, last year it was a little bit of him being new to the team and him coming in to the team, and him being gone so much for Honduras that he really couldn’t train with us and so it was tough for us to get him in on a regular basis. As you can see now his confidence is great with him being in with us, getting to know the guys, guys know him from last year now so it makes it easier to play. As I told DeAndre yesterday, if you have a guy like Mario in front of you every time you win the ball just play it to him because he won’t mess around with it, he won’t mess you up, that way you can make the runs you need to make.

On how the conditions affected the match:Not until the very end, I think it got a little slick towards the very end. Prior to that, no, as long as the guys have the right footwear, you play in those conditions all the time in Europe and so fourth, so it’s a matter of making sure you’ve got the right footwear and being smart about what you do and the runs that you make. I thought towards the end of the game we were smart and just held the ball, but it was definitely getting slick and slippery there at the end.

On subbing starters in the second half:We played them equal on Wednesday and then the starters went home with more minutes on the Saturday game, and so we wanted now instead of practicing with the starters they want them to get some minutes as well, but our plan all along for today was to play more of the reserves.

The Desert Diamond Cup Final
After three days of the Desert Diamond Cup, the final is set: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Real Salt Lake. The match will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network in front of a national television audience with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. Arizona time.